


Something Else Entirely

by birene (zeroambi)



Category: Dead Zone
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-25
Updated: 2007-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-19 21:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeroambi/pseuds/birene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Many thanks go to Meredith, Amy, Sherron und Rhu for their suggestions and corrections.</p></blockquote>





	Something Else Entirely

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Semmi (semirose)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/semirose/gifts).



It was the moment when Johnny Smith was sure that his media-center hated him. He always knew there was a reason why he loved to study nature rather than technology. Technology was evil. Useful, sure. But also evil.

 **PLEASE ENTER UNLOCK CODE**

It blinked from the 3D screen. Well, yeah, that was what he was trying to do. For fifteen minutes now. How difficult could that be, really? Johnny glared from the remote in his hand to the bible-thick operating manual on the coffee table, that might just as well have been written in Swahili.

Of course, he could ask Sarah for help, but that would do no good, Johnny knew. She was even more technologically challenged than he was and would just look at him apologetically with big deer-in-headlights eyes.

He could try to call JJ, but that would be really embarrassing. Plus JJ was on tour in Europe and Johnny would rather not think, let alone hear, about what he and his band were up to in Amsterdam. He was still not really over that whole `My Son the Rock Star' thing. Sarah, of course, loved it.

Running out of ideas Johnny started to stab violently at random remote buttons, but this didn't bring the hoped-for success either. He groaned, frustrated, and threw the remote back onto the coffee table. Glaring at the blinking screen, he absent-mindedly, he began to play with the wedding band on his left ring finger, and then there was Walt standing in the doorway, watching him, obviously amused.

"What is it, John?" he asked, "Any problems?"

Johnny just pointed accusingly at the screen. "It hates me!"

"Oh, come on, John. It's a tv. A pretty fancy one, sure, but still. I doubt it's out to get you. Stillson never had any stock in electronics, right?" Walt joked.

Johnny rolled his eyes at him.

"You need to enter the unlock code," Walt observed.

"No shit," Johnny snorted.

Walt studied the mess on the couch table. "You sure that's the right remote?" he asked, sounding patronising in a way that made Johnny want to hit him. Or kiss him. One of the two. Instead he just seethed in his general direction.

"You were holding it the right way, yes?" Walt inquired.

Johnny didn't dignify this with an answer, but instead demonstratively picked up the remote again and held it in the right direction towards the media-center like a stupid little puppy in training.

"Okay, let's see." Walt sat down beside him and Johnny entered the code via the remote numbers and pressed the OK button. Nothing.

"Um John?" Walt chipped in, frowning at the remote, "It's not synchronized."

"What?"

"The remote. It's not synchronized with the media-center."

"Isn't it supposed to do that on its own?" Johnny was sure a ten-thousand dollar media-center was supposed to do that on its own.

"Not quite." Walt countered. "You have to press the blue button first for a few seconds and then once again shortly for final activation."

Johnny followed Walt's instructions and re-entered the code.

 **PLEASE MAKE YOUR SELECTION**

The message popped up on the screen giving access to the media database.

"See." Walt said with a satisfied grin on his face.

"You find this exceptionally funny, don't you?" Johnny asked, irritated.

"Johnny, what are you ..." Sarah started, entering the room and touched his shoulder. "Oh," she said grinning at Walt and then at the remote in Johnny's hand.

"Walt is making fun of me." Johnny complained, pointing at him accusingly.

"I'm not." Walt held his hands up, looking innocent.

"Is too," insisted Johnny.

"Now, don't be silly, you two," Sarah said, rolling her eyes at them. "Let's choose what to watch this evening," she added, and sat down beside them, linking arms with Johnny.

After studying the database listing, they had just decided on some old home videos when they were interrupted by the rather loud bang of the front door and Hope storming into the living room.

She demonstratively dumped her stuff onto the floor and threw herself into the arm chair with an over-the-top attitude only a disgruntled teenager could pull off. Uh-oh, thought Johnny but he asked, although you didn't need to be a psychic to know the answer: "So, how was the game?"

"They crushed us. Killed us dead!" Hope exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air waving them around erratically. "Three home runs. Three fucki--"

"Hope!" Sarah admonished her daughter.

"Whatever." Hope folded her arms and started to sulk silently.

"Well, the team hasn't been the same since Lisa left. Her catching skills have always been a lifesaver for you." Sarah finally assessed.

"Rub it in Mom, why don't you?" Hope snapped back at her.

"I thought the big summer game wouldn't be until the week after Independence Day?" Walt asked, seeming confused.

"But I've told you at least three times that they changed the date to have it during the school days still. Don't you remember?" Sarah asked back impatiently.

"Really?" Walt looked at her, somewhat embarrassed.

"It's okay," Johnny waved aside, "I never can keep track of the whole family schedule either."

"Do you two ever listen to anything I say?" Sarah complained.

Hope glanced suspiciously from her mother to Johnny and back. "Is ... um ... is Dad here?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes. You wanna see him ..." Johnny got up from the couch reaching for Hope's hand.

"No!" Hope scrambled off the chair and out of Johnny's reach hastily. "You know I'm okay with most of the strange shit going on in this family. Having not one but two psychics in it, fine by me. Although I swear that JJ gets off on creeping me out with his predictions," she paused, taking a deep breath. "But whatever. I'm totally Zen about it. Your parents living with a freaking ghost on the other hand is something else entirely!" she ranted on and finally headed out of the room.

"I'm going to talk to her," Sarah disrupted the embarrassing silence following her departure. She got up and went after her daughter.

"You shouldn't have told her," said Walt, sounding regretful and looking defeated.

"No?" Johnny asked confrontationally, turning back towards him. "There is only so much you can explain with talking to yourself, you know? It was about high time to tell her. Wouldn't want to make her think her parents are getting senile already."

"Wait, you mean you're not?" Walt asked incredulously.

For that Johnny threw a couch pillow at Walt but missed.

"She'll get over it. She's tough. Just like her dad." Johnny tried to reassure Walt and crouched down to pick up the deflected pillow from the floor. He groaned and held his back when he tried to get up again.

"You know, sometimes I think dying young wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to me." Walt commented dryly while he helped him up.

Johnny did the only thing he could think of as appropriate in such a situation. He stuck out his tongue at him.

"Very dignified, John."

"I'll give you dignified," said Johnny and tackled Walt back onto the couch.

* * *

 _Walt: "I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of not being there though for them. The tough times.  
Talk to JJ about girls. Help Sarah with the tv, when she doesn't know how to work the remote..."  
Johnny: "Oh, you do that? You can come over to my house when this is over?"_

(The Dead Zone, Descent 2x02)

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks go to Meredith, Amy, Sherron und Rhu for their suggestions and corrections.


End file.
